So Many Questions
Sibongiseni Dhlomo, MEC for health in KwaZulu-Natal, told parliament that his department was being fleeced by crooked lawyers. Chris Barron asked him . . .
Why are you having to spend so much — R243-million last year — on claims? Because those were claims that came against the department and had to be paid for when we found there was something the department did which needed to make those claims paid for. Why did you tell parliament that crooked lawyers were fleecing your department? The bulk of that money is not sitting with the people who are supposed to get it. The bulk of that money goes into the pockets of the lawyers, not to the people who deserve it. Shouldn’t the threat of legal action presented by these lawyers be an incentive for you to improve your healthcare standards? Medical-legal claims is not equivalent to negligence. Don’t the bulk of these claims involve negligence or malpractice? No. Half of them. Not the bulk of them. If as much as half of the claims against you are the result of negligence and malpractice, shouldn’t this be an incentive for you to improve? That is part of our plan. Why are you shifting the blame for your negligence onto lawyers? We are not shifting the blame. You should never allow professional lawyers to be touts sitting at the hospital gates and advertising in the media to say: “If you’ve got any problem, come to me as a lawyer.” It’s unprofessional. We are not shifting the blame. I wish to see a doctor who says he has never made a mistake in his life. But there was nobody following him like what is happening today. We admit that there are mistakes. We take responsibility. But this R15-million [claimed by a lawyer for future medical expenses] we shall not pay. Because that does not go to the client, it goes to the lawyer, who lies and says he is claiming that amount on behalf of the family. How far back do these claims the lawyers are making against your department go? I am dealing with claims for what happened 15 years ago. These unscrupulous lawyers are going all over the country and asking: “Why have you got cerebral palsy? Show me the hospital that delivered you 15 years ago.” Isn’t there a deadline for claims? The cut-off point is 21 years. So a lawyer can come out of the blue until the deadline is up and sue your department? I am telling you that these unscrupulous lawyers go to kindergarten schools and check children there and say: “What happened eight or 10 years ago, which hospital did you go to?” Right up to the age of 21 they do that. Do lawyers collude with doctors to get their hands on case histories? Not necessarily doctors. Healthcare professionals. There is collusion between some lawyers and healthcare professionals. Not only doctors, but doctors will be part of it. Do you report these cases to the law society? Yes, we do. But the state attorneys I depend on to take these matters up when we give them the history have their challenges in pursuing and dealing with this matter. What challenges? There’s a backlog in dealing with these cases. A serious backlog? Absolutely. You give them a case, you hope they’re making preparations. Then when they’re due to appear in court they tell you they never had time to prepare. How many prosecutions have there been? You don’t expect me to have that number . . . Have there been any prosecutions? Yes, there have been. Do you agree that people who’ve suffered because of negligence and malpractice in the state healthcare sector are entitled to legal assistance? No, I do not agree. I do agree that they have to be compensated for whatever misconduct and mistakes have been done by healthcare professionals, but it does not have to go through lawyers.
You don’t think they need legal representation? No. How would they press claims successfully without it? Our 10-page plan has all those components. Wouldn’t you agree that the only hope a poor family without access to resources has is when a lawyer offers to help them? That’s not my view. In the same way people involved in motor vehicle accidents do not need a lawyer to make claims. They can go to the Department of Transport and there are processes and mechanisms to do that. You must know that when someone with no resources and no experience in these matters tries to get money from a state bureaucracy without legal assistance, he’s got little chance. That’s your view. I’m saying that families need to be compensated for any misdemeanour or mistake. It does not have to go through lawyers. Surely families are entitled to legal assistance to get as much compensation as they can? More than 80% of the compensation granted never reaches the family. Even if they get 20%, isn’t that more than they’d get without legal representation? You are justifying this unscrupulous behaviour. Why should a lawyer get 80% of something he doesn’t deserve? I tell you, we have a better system than that. Isn’t it your system that has caused these problems in the first place? That’s your view.